To your first question, "You said you're diabetic Birdlady?" Yes. But NOT the type you are thinking of. I have the form of diabetes no one knows about. haha It is called diabetes insipidus. You get all the normal symptoms of diabetes mellitus except for 1 important thing and that is insulin resistance and glucose in the urine. That is what separates Diabetes Mellitus with Diabetes Insipidus.

This form of diabetes (in me at least-there are several types) is when your pituitary gland is not using anti-diuretic hormone properly. The anti-diuretic hormone is what controls how much you urinate, your hydration, and urine concentration. Whenever you have DI, your body doesn't do any of these properly. Severe cases of DI, people urinate up to 50 times a day. Thankfully mine isn't nearly that bad, but I could probably reach 10-15 times a day if it's warm out and I didn't take my medication. My blood pressure would be terrible too. If a person with DI (not medicated) stopped drinking water, they would go into shock very quickly depending upon how severe their DI is. Some people with DI can't even do the water deprivation test (12 hours of no water) to properly calculate how severe their case is.

Drinking water (even with my medication) is priority 1 in my life at the moment. If I go to the mall, store, grocery shopping, I have to make sure I have some water with me just in case I become really thirsty. You just reminded me to order a medical bracelet. If I am ever in a car accident, I could die if the EMT's don't know I have this condition. This form is more severe because NO ONE knows what it is when you tell them. That is very dangerous especially if they would start injecting me with insulin. "Oh she has diabetes". You see what I mean?

This is most likely all caused by mercury. Dr. Cutler talks about this in his book.

On to your other question. Yes I do love birds. hehe My love for birds started when my sister purchased two cockatiels about 13 years ago. At first I was REALLY scared of them, but learned to love them. Then one of them died and that is when I realized how much I enjoyed their company. Birds have different personalities just like we do and I love to see them interact with one another. I have 2 cockatiels, but sadly my husband is allergic to them! My sister now has them with her 4 cockatiels. They are one big happy family now. haha

I live in western PA where the sky is usually a dull gray. This summer has been unusually sunny, but winter is quickly approaching and it will be MONTHS of gloom.